With any type of management position, you will most likely be called on to give performance
reviews. b These are easy to deliver when the employee is performing well, but when there is an
issue with how an employee is doing the job, it can be difficult to get the correct message across. b
Negative employee reviews are better done in person, but this can be stressful for both parties.
Speaking as the plant manager, for this discussion, I will focus on the part of Bob’s primary
responsibility that involves ensuring complete and defect free shipments (and not the fact that
there are an alarming number of defective products being produced). b When giving Bob’s
performance review, it should focus on being clear on the issues relating to the outgoing shipment
errors. b The first step I would need to take as Bob’s manager would be to have a performance
review meeting with him to discuss the issues with the number of orders containing defect. b It
needs to be explained to Bob that this lack of monitoring orders for defects has cost the company
money by having to reship orders and is causing issues with customer satisfaction. b While Bob
might not be packaging the shipments, it is his responsibility to ensure that they are going out
correctly. b Bob will need to review the orders that have defects to see who has handled their
packing. b This will enable Bob to see if there is a widespread issue among the employees or if it
can be narrowed down to a single or handful of employees. b If the problem is with only one or two
employees, then Bob will need to discuss the defective shipments with those employees
specifically and closely monitor/inspect those shipments for a specified period to ensure that the
problem has been corrected. b If the defective shipments are a widespread problem throughout the
team, then Bob and I will need to discuss if the issue is because of a training issue or a morale
issue. b If the shipment problem is due to training, then I can assist Bob in reviewing training
procedures and initiating further training protocols so that the shipments are going out correctly. b
However, if the problem is due to morale, then Bob will need to check in with his team to find
areas of improvement. If there are morale problems that Bob cannot solve, then I would assist in
taking any employee concerns further up the chain or to the necessary department to find ways to
improve the situation. First thing I would need to do is assess Bobs work performance over time.
Are these mistakes only happening recently? Or has this been occurring gradually over time. This
would be the first thing that I would adjust to see if that could help Bobs performance. I think
good management doesn't just punish an employee for a few mistakes, but instead looks into the
details of what changed. If Bob was doing a good job and then an adjustment was made then his
performance tanked, we have probably found our culprit.
Secondly, I would sit down with Bob and discuss his performance and the complaints that the
company received from customers about how the product has been arriving. I would have him
walk me through his checklist on how he sends the product out and follow his steps to make sure
that the proper routine was happening. If he does the routine perfectly, then this tells me Bob is
probably cutting corners or intentionally not performing his duties accordingly and then will need
to be put on a PIP or a performance improvement plan to correct his actions. If Bob was showing
me how he performs his duties and there is an area that he could improve on to increase the
quality, then this would be a great time to talk with him about this and have him adjust.
Lastly, moving forward I would have someone have to double check his work and sign off that
things were done correctly for a period until Bob can gain the trust of his management to do the
job by himself. During this stage I would also make sure that the SOP for Bobs duties were changed
and adapted to fix the problem in procedures if this needs to be fixed. If Bob continues to have
complaints and issues from customers than further discipline action will need to occur.
